‘Hmm…’
Ketiya Lampshade felt a mix of feelings as she stared at the student who had now approached her.
On the one hand, she felt a mild sting of annoyance. The mere fact that this student chose to submit his Course Registration Paper last, even though the others submitted theirs minutes earlier bothered her to no end.
She could also tell that he was only pretending to be bothered by her scrutinizing gaze and the numerous stares he received. In truth, he probably couldn’t be bothered by any of these factors, and if she hadn’t lied about the time limit, he would have probably taken even more time deciding on what courses to take.
‘Looks like we have a deviant here.’ She clicked her tongue silently. ‘I don’t like this.’
This was Ketiya’s first time as a Supervising Officer, and she had already been briefed on everything she needed to know about the job. Before now, she had also taught private classes to a few people, but never before was she responsible for a full class like this.
Still, she was confident that she could handle all of them.
But… the problem came when a deviant—like the boy she was staring at—entered the picture.
‘He scored the lowest in the exams, and I can tell that he has very little talent in Magia. He didn’t receive any prior education in Mage Arts too, so I suppose there’s really no need to worry too much.’ She told herself.
Such a person was bound to fail the upcoming exercises and flunk out of school within a year.
‘The reason he took so much time was probably because he was trying to play it safe and find the easiest Courses to take.’ A wry smile formed on her face. ‘With that kind of attitude at the start, it’s best he just drops out now.’
As someone who graduated from the Imperial Magus Academy herself, Ketiya Lampshade knew there was no such thing as an “Easy Course” here. All the Major and Minor Courses, even the ones with only one Unit, had their fair share of hardships to provide.
Plus, the further one advanced in the Years, the more difficult these Courses became.
“Urgh…” Ketiya shuddered a little as she remembered the hellish days she spent in the Academy. ‘I spent practically all my time studying to the point where I couldn’t make a single friend or lover.’
She was suffering from the consequences of those choices now.
‘I’m 27 years old, and I’m not even married yet.’ A bead of sweat nearly fell from her eye, but she managed to suck it back in.
Such was the life of a Mage, after all…
‘Hopefully, I can find some hot Instructor that comes from a good family in this Academy.’ She thought to herself.
That was honestly the only reason she decided to become a permanent staff member here.
“Um… where do I submit?” Ketiya was awoken from her thoughts by the student before her. Her gleaming amber eyes flashed as she looked at him.
He looked unassuming and innocent enough as he stared at her with his darkened irises, his Course Registration form in hand. A lectern stood between the two of them, and there were two piles of Course Registration Forms on it.
The question he asked was most likely because of his ignorance on where to put his Course Registration Form.
Or, at least, that was what it seemed like.
‘Look at this kid…’ Ketiya slightly glared at him, trying her best to control her expression. ‘Does he take me for a fool or something?’
She already knew he was observing everyone and everything that went on in the classroom—almost like he was an Instructor himself. Even as the students began submitting their Course Registration Forms, he had to have observed that those who chose Runecrafting or Magia Engineering as Majors submitted their forms to the left, while those who picked Spellcasting had theirs to the right.
At the moment, both piles appeared somewhat equal in size, though the Spellcasting pile seemed a little bigger.
That could have just been due to her bias as a Spellcaster, though.
‘In any case, why is he asking me such a question when he already knows where he’s supposed to submit his form? Is he trying to achieve something here by playing dumb, or did I just imagine his observation back then?’ Ketiya couldn’t help but sigh at this point.
As a member of the Imperial Magus Academy, she had to be professional and uphold all the qualities of a proper Instructor—especially since she was a Supervising Officer.
That meant, even if a student annoyed her down to her bones, she had to exercise patience.
“Spellcasting Majors go to the left, and Runecrafting or Magia Engineering goes to the right.”
“Really? I thought Spellcasting went to the right and the other two were left.” The student replied, causing even more veins to appear on Ketiya’s forehead as she controlled her intense frustration.
‘So you knew!’ Her amber eyes were ablaze in anger. ‘Why would you ask me such a foolish question, then?’
As though he read her mind, the student put forward his Course Registration form and gave an awkward smile as he spoke. “I… actually registered for both Spellcasting and Runecrafting as my Majors.”
“....”
For a moment, Ketiya didn’t say anything.
She just stared at the student with utter dumbfoundedness.
Slowly taking the Form from his grasp, feeling their fingers slightly graze each other as she did so, Ketiya intensely read the document.
‘What the hell?’ The boy wasn’t joking at all. ‘He actually did it… this stupid idiot!’
Here she was, already thinking about how this very student barely passed the exams and was most likely trying to play it safe. Yet, not only did he choose two Majors—one of which being Spellcasting, which he scored woefully low in—but he also went ahead to pick three Minors as well.
‘He’s setting himself up to fail!’
Ketiya didn’t know why she was so upset about this, considering the fact that she already assumed he would flunk out of school anyway. Considering his personality and mediocre talent, it was only to be expected.
Plus, he probably didn’t receive much education about Magia from the start.
The end results were pretty obvious.
She already knew the fate of such a student, yet why was she feeling so uneasy about his choice?
‘It must bother me that this boy is throwing away this privilege without even trying to be smart about his decisions…’ She told herself, fuming silently as she looked at the stoic expression he had on his juvenile face.
She felt like hitting him, but that would be going too far.
‘Well, whatever… I shouldn’t be too bothered about this.’ The young lady sighed internally. ‘The poor performance of students reflects negatively on the Supervising Officer, but since I’m sure he’ll be gone very soon, there’s no need to overreact.’
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Ketiya could already guess why this student was being so reckless with his choice.
‘He probably already knows that he doesn’t stand a chance here, so he’s trying to study as many things as possible so that once he leaves the Academy he can start a life with the knowledge he obtained.’
If that was indeed the case, shouldn’t he have gone for something like Magia Engineering, though? Ketiya couldn’t help but constantly sigh to herself.
‘Kids who think they’re smart when they’re actually idiots making stupid decisions are the worst.’ Shrugging silently, she waved at the boy to go back to his seat while she held on to his Course Registration Form.
He bowed slightly and obediently followed her slight gesture.
‘Dan Nilrem, huh?’ Frowning slightly, she watched the boy return to his seat.
From the way he addressed her, to how he composed himself, and even how he walked away, it was clear he had very little regard for her or his fellow students—some of whom had already caught wind of his decision and were whispering amongst themselves.
‘Let’s see how long you last here.’
********
‘It seems our dear Supervising Officer doesn’t approve of me.’
This was Dan’s thought as he settled back to his seat, though even this realization did nothing to his emotional state.
‘Well, the feeling is mutual.’ He stared hard at her and couldn’t help but disapprove of such a person being an Instructor in the Imperial Magus Academy, not to mention holding the rank of a Supervising Officer.
‘I know the world must have changed since my death, but this is a terrible one.’
Supervising Officers had to have a certain level of maturity and experience, which would allow them to deal with the students under their care. From what he could observe from the woman before him, she lacked either of those factors.
‘She must be quite talented, which explains why she landed a spot here, and she probably used some form of connection to get this particular job.’ Dan thought to himself. ‘From my experience with these kinds of people, chances are that she came here for some sort of selfish or personal reason.’
A very likely one was that she was searching for a spouse as a result of her declining age.
‘Apprentices face a lot of pressure and spend a lot of their time involved in Mage Arts, which leaves very little time for romance. It’s why many girls are discouraged not to attend any Magus Academy—at least, not until they already get married.’ Dan shrugged. ‘I’ve seen my fair share of women who got into Education for the particular reason of getting married.’
He also knew how such a search usually ended up.
‘Men in Academia are usually known to have upstanding characters and come from good families. This attracts ladies to the field, without them taking into account the actual toll it takes on those in it.’
Education wasn’t an easy field for either the Student or the Instructor.
‘I’m sure you’ll soon come to that realization as we properly get into the Semester, Ketiya Lampshade.’ Dan chuckled to himself, already picturing the distraught expression she would have once she discovered the arduous life of an Instructor.
‘Let’s see how long you last here.’
**********
After everyone filled their Course Registration Forms, Supervising Officer Ketiya went ahead with the Orientation and explained a few things to the students.
“For as long as you remain in this Academy, all of you are Apprentices. The point of this ten-year long program is to turn you into fully-fledged Mages.” She began. “Of course, that only marks the start of your journey, so be prepared for even more challenges down the road.”
Despite how young she was, Ketiya Lampshade spoke with such confidence that nearly everyone in the hall was convinced that she had sufficient experience to be a functional Supervising Officer.
She went ahead to tell them about their life in the Dorms, and the class schedules that they would have to follow.
The summary of everything was simple:
Runecrafting took place in the morning hours, Spellcasting took place in the afternoon, and Magia Engineering took place at night.
Minor Courses were somewhere in-between, but no Course clashed with one another, so even if students chose Minors related to courses that weren’t their Majors, they still wouldn’t be affected by the schedule.
“The reason the Time Table is spread in such a way is to give the students a lot of time to themselves. Each Major Class is only for two hours, and a Minor Class is for one hour.” Ketiya added. “This means most students will only have four to five hours of lectures per day at the maximum.”
She shot Dan a slight smirk as she made this point, but—much to her mild annoyance—he remained expressionless and pretended as though he saw nothing.
Not letting his cheekiness interrupt her flow, though, she continued with her explanation.
“Don’t mistake all of this free time for an opportunity to slack off, though. You’re supposed to spend any extra time you have on studying and personal research.” The faces of a lot of students paled when they heard this, though many others steeled themselves with resolve.
They must have understood the reason they came to the Academy.
“Other than time spent eating and sleeping, every other free moment you have should go into your studies and practice.” The gloomy words of their Instructor hung over the heads of every student who listened. “The standard we use to judge students and their performance is extremely high, so you’d do well not to fall short.”
The class slowly nodded as they took all of this in.
But Dan didn’t nod.
In fact, he subtly shook his head as he rejected the validity of Ketiya’s words to his classmates.
‘She’s correct in the fact that we shouldn’t recklessly give in to the liberty and free time that the Academy generously gives its students. Individual study and practice are important aspects of being a student here.’
Many students fell under the trap of time in the Academy and wasted most of it having fun or doing useless activities, which ended up coming back to bite them in classes, or more importantly, exercises.
‘However…’ Dan narrowed his eyes. ‘... Studying isn’t everything.’
If that was all the Academy was for, rather than bringing everyone to one general institution, students would be advised to take these Courses in their respective homes and territories.
‘There are some among us who are from rich noble families, and a few in the Academy must also belong to royalty. What reason would such people have to come all the way to an Academy when they could enjoy bountiful resources where they’re coming from?’
Surely, if studying and practice was all they needed, many students would be better off studying in a more comfortable environment—especially with all the necessary resources at their disposal.
‘But, just as important as studying and practicing, networking remains one of the key reasons the Academy remains a pertinent structure to raise Mages.’ Dan concluded, letting out a tiny sigh.
It didn’t matter what kind of privilege a person had, or how talented they were.
No competent Mage could be groomed in a vacuum.
Competition and Camaraderie had to exist in a perfect balance so as to foster the growth of a decent Mage.
‘Mage Arts are too complex to be studied individually. Everybody has blind spots, and it takes a collective effort to solve the problems that exist, whether in Spellcasting, Runecrafting or Magia Engineering.’
Even back in his past life, when he was the Head of Department in Runecraft, and was considered the leading expert in the Empire, he still needed a Paper written by his junior in the same field to re-ignite his passion.
If it hadn’t been for that paper he reviewed, he wouldn’t have re-discovered himself, and he certainly wouldn’t have reached the height he eventually attained in his past life before dying.
‘That’s why the Magus Community welcomes new members and exists as a cooperative society where knowledge is shared, and people interact all the time to get breakthroughs in certain aspects of the Arts.’
This culture had to begin when potential Mages were still Apprentices, which was the whole rationale behind Magus Academies—the Imperial Magus Academy being the leading figure and a shining example of this in the Empire.
‘We all need each other, which means we have to spend enough time interacting with one another at the beginning stages.’ Dan said to himself, wishing he could tell this to the woman addressing the class.
This was one of the reasons he didn’t approve of her as a Supervising Officer.
‘She’s too green. Someone as young as her doesn’t fully understand the value of collectivism in the Community.’ He was tempted to shake his head, but remained calm regardless.
Dan could already guess that Ketiya Lampshade was a lone wolf back when she was an Apprentice in the Academy. Due to her talent, she must have struggled against the tide by herself and even managed to succeed.
‘But most people aren’t as talented, which means they’ll find it nearly impossible to replicate the same feat.’ Dan added. ‘She seems to be under the assumption that if you have sufficient talent, work hard enough and do the right thing by yourself, you’ll succeed in this place.’
This conclusion of hers was due to her own experience as a student, hence it was incredibly flawed. Dan could tell right away, as someone who had taught countless students and had lived a full life as one also.
‘There are many here who have the potential to be Mages, but require the assistance of their fellows as well as competition to stir them to be better. The Academy somewhat helps out in the competition department, but students are given the initiative to interact freely with one another… or not at all.’
If everyone here followed their Supervising Officer’s advice, they would choose the latter.
‘And it will lead to more people failing than necessary.’
Despite having all of these concerns, Dan remained silent and didn’t even bat an eye as he kept listening to the counsel of the woman before him.
‘Nothing good will come out of challenging whatever she’s saying, so I’ll just observe for now.’
He recognized that he had no power at the moment, and he was also the lowest scorer in the entire class, which meant his reputation was not the best. Any further attempt to stand out would only end in tragedy.
‘Right now, I’ll have to be a little selfish and focus on what I can do for myself.’
However, that didn’t mean he would be giving up on the matter.
‘I just have to bide my time and grow for now…’ He smiled to himself, making sure to listen attentively throughout the rest of the Orientation.
The whole thing lasted for about an hour, until Ketiya finally dismissed the class after answering a few common questions.
“Lectures officially begin tomorrow, so return to your Dorms and prepare for your upcoming class.” Ketiya announced, causing all the students to rise and hurriedly leave the classroom, taking her instructions to heart.
Talented or not, they were all Apprentices that were new to the environment.
It was clear where most of them would be headed to after such a rousing speech from their Supervising Officer.
‘The Library, huh? I’ll check it out later.’ Dan thought to himself with disinterest as he found himself walking back to his dorms.
‘For now, let’s get started on some actual preparations.’